Hand-held communication aid for individuals with auditory, speech and visual impairments

Abstract

The present invention relates to a hand-held communication aid and method that assists the deaf-dumb and visually impaired individuals to communicate with each other and with normal individuals. The method enables deaf-dumb and visually impaired individuals to communicate with each other and with normal individuals on remote communication means without any hardware improvization. The method enables face to face communication and remote communication aid for deaf-dumb and visually impaired individuals. This method requires no modifications in hand-held communication device used by normal individual.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method for communication between a plurality of users, the method comprising:
 receiving a message from a first user over a first handheld communication device, wherein the message comprises at least one of an image message, a video message, a sign message, a text message, an audio message, and a Braille code, wherein the first user has one or more impairments comprising a visual impairment, a speech impairment, and an auditory impairment; 
 extracting discrete data from the message by applying at least one of a feature extraction or an action extraction on the message, wherein the discrete data comprises at least one of facial expressions, emotions, video data, sign data, text data, and audio data; 
 generating meaningful data from the discrete data by comparing discrete data with at least one of a) pre-stored parameters or b) a first pre-defined library, wherein the pre-stored parameters are indicative of at least one of a tone of the audio of the first user and an accent of the audio of the first user, and wherein the first pre-defined library comprises images, texts, Braille codes, videos, and signs; 
 transmitting the meaningful data to a second user, wherein the second user has none or one or more impairments comprising a visual impairment, a speech impairment, and an auditory impairment; 
 receiving the meaningful data by the second user over a second handheld communication device; 
 converting at the second handheld communication device the meaningful data into a output data according to a profile of the second user by selecting images, texts, Braille codes, videos, audios and signs stored in a second predefined library, wherein the meaningful data is converted into output data based on the pre-trained data stored in a database associated with the second handheld communication device, wherein the pre-trained data stores training samples gathered from the first user; and 
 providing a user interface for facilitating the second user to access the output data. 
 
     
     
       2. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the message from the first user is received using at least one of a keypad, a stylus, a touch screen, camera, a Braille keyboard, a micro-phone, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a palm-top, a mobile digital assistant, and a digital wrist watch. 
     
     
       3. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pre-stored parameters are generated using a pre-defined set of rules comprising pre-defined instructions and queries. 
     
     
       4. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the meaningful data is converted into the output data using one of a Braille to text converter, a text to Braille converter, speech to text converter and a text to image converter. 
     
     
       5. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the user interaction is achieved by at least one of a Braille display, an audio amplifier, and a display for displaying textual data. 
     
     
       6. A system for facilitating communication between a plurality of users, the system comprising:
 a first handheld communication device and a second handheld communication device, wherein the first handheld communication device is configured to:
 receive the message from a first user, wherein the message comprises at least one of an image message, a video message, a sign message, a text message, an audio message, and a Braille code, wherein the first user has one or more impairments comprising a visual impairment, a speech impairment, and an auditory impairment; 
 extract discrete data from the message by applying at least one of a feature extraction or an action extraction on the message, wherein the discrete data comprises at least one of facial expressions, emotions, video data, sign data, text data, and audio data; 
 generate meaningful data from the discrete data by comparing discrete data with at least one of a) pre-stored parameters or b) a pre-defined library, wherein the pre-stored parameters are indicative of at least one of a tone of the audio of the first user and an accent of the audio of the first user, wherein the pre-defined library comprises images, texts, Braille codes, videos, and signs; and 
 transmit the meaningful data to a second user over the second handheld communication device, wherein the second user has none or one or more impairments comprising a visual impairment, a speech impairment, and an auditory impairment; 
 
 and wherein the second handheld communication device configured to:
 receive the meaningful data transmitted by the first handheld communication device; 
 convert the meaningful data into a output data according to a profile of the second user by selecting images, texts, Braille codes, videos, audios and signs stored in a second predefined library, wherein the meaningful data is converted into output data based on the pre-trained data stored in a database associated with the second handheld communication device, wherein the pre-trained data stores training samples gathered from the first user; and 
 provide a user interface for facilitating the second user to access the output data.